During the interval audiences had the opportunity to watch additional short films including interviews with the creative teams and footage of the rehearsal process.

If you missed the screening on the night or are keen to know more about the production, here is another opportunity to see the films:

An introduction to Cavalleria rusticana

Michieletto's new production places both the sense of community and the verismo elements of the opera centre stage. Opening with the whole village coming together to celebrate Easter, the isolation of Mascagni’s heroine Santuzza in the opera is particularly noticeable.

‘Santuzza’s so jealous, just this wave of rage', says Eva-Maria Westbroek of her character's mentality. 'She goes to Lola’s husband and tells him what’s been going on, which is of course the biggest mistake of her life’.

An introduction to Pagliacci

‘Pagliacci opens in a very particular way’ says the director. ‘The prologue is basically saying to the audience that we should take theatre as something real'. This theme carries through both to the play within the play in the second half of Leoncavallo’s opera, and to the dreams and realities of the characters.

Antonio Pappano on Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci

For conductorAntonio Pappano, Mascagni and Leoncavallo’s music is ‘extremely heartfelt’ and quintessentially Southern Italian. In this film he explores both the atmosphere of village life in Southern Italy (the home of his own parents), and the differences of Italian verismo opera

This is the first year of the awards and, the only awards to focus exclusively on opera, it is hoped that they will become the Oscars of the opera world. Designed to promote excellence in opera, they recognize the achievements of performers, producers and backstage teams.

Music Director of The Royal Opera Antonio Pappano has been nominated in the Conducting category while the Royal Opera House Orchestra have been nominated in the Orchestra category.

Those nominated in the Male Singer category include Aleksandrs Antonenko, who will sing the role of Cavaradossi in Tosca this July; Jonas Kaufman who will sing the title role in Don Carlo; and Bryn Terfel who appeared in Keith Warner’s production of The Ring Cycleearlier in the Season.

Joyce DiDonato, who will perform in John Fulljames’s new production of La donna del lago; andSarah Connolly, who performed in The Ring Cycle, are nominated in the Female Singer category.

Other nominees include Ryan Wigglesworth, who conducted Birtwistle’s The Minotaur in Covent Garden earlier this year and is up for the Newcomer Award; Richard Jones, whose production of Britten’s Gloriana opens in June has been nominated for the Director Award; and Nicola Luisotti, who will be conducting Verdi’s Nabucco on the Main Stage in March and has been nominated for the Conductor Award alongside Antonio Pappano. Allan Clayton, who will perform in Written on Skin; and Sophie Bevan, who will sing Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, are nominated in the Young Singer category.

In the DVD category, recordings of The Royal Opera performing both Richard Jones’s production of Il trittico and Jonathan Kent’s production of Tosca are both nominated. There is also a Reader's Award, which allows the public to vote for a singer of their choice. Cast your vote online

All other categories will be judged by an independent panel of industry experts, including John Allison, editor of Opera Magazine. He commented:

"Driven by the feeling that true excellence in opera is seldom celebrated enough, and that new and emerging artists need all the support they can get, The Operas (as we hope they will come to be known) will address both these needs while bringing together leading members of the ‘industry’ and its supporters."

The Italian Ambassador recently hosted the launch of our 2012/13 Verdi production syndicate at the exquisite Italian Embassy.

The Verdi syndicate encompasses support around Nabucco, Don Carlo and Simon Boccanegra, the three magnificent Verdi operas The Royal Opera are presenting in 2013, the bicentenary year of Verdi’s birth. Tony Pappano will be conducting the revivals of Don Carlo and Simon Boccanegra, and Plácido Domingoand Leo Nucci will share the title role in the new production of Nabucco from Italian Director Daniele Abbado.

During the evening, in the stunning surroundings of the Ambassador’s residence, guests were treated to an informative and musical evening with a performance from Maestro Pappano accompanying tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko. The duo gave powerful performances of excerpts from Otello and La Traviata to great applause. Alexandrs is currently singing the title role in Otello at the Royal Opera House under the baton of Maestro Pappano; considered to be the most exciting revival of the production in a long time.

Following the performance, Maestro Pappano and Director of Opera Kasper Holten discussed the dynamics between directors and conductors when it comes to staging productions. Although these two talented men have not yet worked together in this capacity, we were told that this is now scheduled to happen in the not-too-distant future!

Supporters very much enjoyed the evening, and we would like to thank the Italian Embassy for hosting the occasion.